Dac: Old vs New

@tonyjack - have you thought of upgrading your cables?

Todays components really are better than many systems allow them to be. Upgrading the cables allow modestly priced components to excel to levels I did not think possible

I’ve achieved great improvements in sound quality on reasonably modest components (i.e. $400-$700) by using quality cables with them.

• improved clarity and details
• fast dynamic response
• spacious and well defined image

A good place to start would be Audio Envy Cables - excellent cables for a modest outlay - great bang for the buck

Zavfino are also very good, with their TOTL cables costing a little more for stellar performance.

I started with the interconnects and then upgraded the power cables also on both my Schiit Bifrost, which I then replaced that with my Node2, both of which stepped up their performance level with good cables.

Hope that helps - Steve

I bought the original Ayre QB9 in 2011. In around 2017 I purchased an upgrade from Ayre and the difference was revealing. Around 2020 I purchased another upgrade from Ayre and the difference was astounding. At this stage, the Ayre DAC is so good that I had the opportunity to replace it but decided to put that money towards a better streamer/renderer instead. So in a discursive way to answer your question, a new DAC will provide improvements however keep in mind, a DAC bought today will be antiquated within ten years time. For $500.00, I must admit I’d have trouble finding a DAC that could deliver as I really don’t know about DAC’s in that price range.

@tonyjack I was in the same boat. I own an old but very respected dac and was curious as to how dac has progressed over the years. I bought the Topping d90se to try. Well received and measured really well. Well getting right to the point, it sucked. It has high details but low transparency. in a sense that it allows you to hear almost everything. But it doesn’t differentiate pitch and loudness very well. So even though you can hear more instruments, those instruments sounded similar to each other and one song sound similar to the next. A monotone presentation that got boring very quickly. Soundstage was meh. Air was meh. 

So yea the Topping was a disappointment. But I did like how vocals sounded on it though.

@tonyjack I’m actually selling my dac (Anedio D2) for a very good price. PM me if you want more details. Be warned that it makes a pop when turning off or turning on, you can avoid this by turning dac on before amp, and turning amp off before turning dac off. Or you can leave dac on 24/7

It’s a fantastic dac (also a pre-amp and headphone amp combo) and normally I wouldn’t sell but I bought a BMC amp and its potential is not fully realized unless I also buy a BMC dac to connect both product through the "Current-Injection" method.

If the Topping comparison was anything to go by, I don’t think there’s a new dac out there that can touch my Anedio D2 for under $500.

This dac was very special at the time it was released. John grandberg (project86) said it rival some Invictus dac at $8,000 or something. My memory is a little hazy but you can find more details when you search up d1/d2 reviews. 

I had a PS Audio DL3 Cullen lvl 3 and still remember that I really enjoyed it when I had it. I would say at the current $500 mark, new DACs will not be as enjoyable as it. You might get better measurements but there's no free lunch when it comes to budget components. I'd suggest saving a little bit more and getting something a little over the $1k range like a used Yggdrasil or Pontus II. Those should provide some technical improvements without losing musicality.